1. Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to firearms, and more specifically relates to a barrel nut for a rifle.
2. Background Art
The AR-15 rifle is one of the most popular rifle platforms in the world. An AR-15 rifle typically includes a lower receiver, an upper receiver, and a barrel connected to the upper receiver. A stock and front grip are also typically included. Various other items may be optionally included on an AR-15 rifle, such as front and/or rear sights, a flash suppressor, a bayonet mount, a rail system, various optics including scopes and red-dot sights, tactical lights, sling mounts and slings, etc. Because the design of the lower receiver and upper receiver is uniform between most manufacturers, many different manufacturers make AR-15 lower receivers and upper receivers and parts that are interchangeable. Thus, a person can typically take an AR-15 lower receiver made by a first manufacturer and mate it to an AR-15 upper receiver made by a second manufacturer that is connected to a barrel made by a third manufacturer. This interchangeability of parts, along with the vast number of different accessories that can be added, makes the AR-15 an extremely popular rifle among rifle enthusiasts.
The barrel of an AR-15 is connected to the upper receiver using a barrel nut. Referring to FIG. 1, an upper receiver 110 is shown with an externally threaded boss 120. A barrel 130 includes a back portion 140 dimensioned to slide within the interior of the threaded boss 120, with a flange 150 that abuts the face of the threaded boss 120 when the barrel is installed into the upper receiver 110. Once the back portion 140 of barrel 130 is slid into the threaded boss 120 until the flange 150 contacts the front face of the threaded boss 120, a barrel nut is then slid over the free end of the barrel and down the barrel, and is then screwed onto the threads of the threaded boss 120 to secure the barrel 130 to the upper receiver 110.
Various barrel nuts for the AR-15 rifle have been developed over the years. Many of these barrel nuts require separate mounting systems for a front grip, many of which contact the barrel, which reduces accuracy. Some barrel nuts include threaded holes for mounting a front grip, but these also contact the barrel, which reduces accuracy.